The Goat and the Tiger

High on the side of some mountains was a beautiful meadow. It was full of sweet grasses and flowers, and every summer a local herd of goats frequented it, grazing and playing. One day, as they grazed, a pregnant tiger made its way up the mountain and found itself on an outcropping overlooking the meadow in which the goats were grazing. She was very close to giving birth—as she climbed, she could feel her cub inside of her, alive and ready to enter this world.

When she saw the goats below her, she dropped to the ground to conceal herself and began to watch them with the eyes of a hunter. She knew that she would need a great deal of energy when she gave birth, and that hunting would be difficult in the days following the birth of her cub. This was an opportunity which she couldn’t pass up. From her place of hiding, she watched them feeding as they gradually moved in her direction. When they were close enough, she came to a low crouch, coiled her energy, and when the moment was right, leapt with a roar into the midst of the goat herd.

She died suddenly in mid-leap. It could have been from her pregnancy or maybe something else, but when she landed she was dead. The goats scattered in fright in every direction. From the impact of the body on the ground, the cub was thrust into life, and lay on the ground next to her body, struggling to breathe. When the goats saw the tiger lying there without moving, after a time they began to tentatively return to the meadow. The boldest of them made their way over to the lifeless tiger, and sniffed at her. They became aware of the tiger cub, and some of the nanny goats began to lick it clean. As soon as they did, the cub turned its head in their direction and found one of the nanny’s udders, and began to feed off her milk.

Over the next period of time, the goats raised the tiger as if it were their own. He would play in the meadow with the other kids, and as far as he knew he was one of them. Several of the mother goats fed him, and he began to grow larger and stronger.

On another day, another tiger found its way up the same mountain, and found itself perched on the same outcropping that the mother tiger had leapt from. He was in the prime of his life, and hungry. He lay in hiding for a while, watching the goats, and when the moment was right, leapt with a roar down on to the unsuspecting herd of goats. Upon hearing the roar, the goats scattered in fright. The tiger cub didn’t—it was transfixed as it watched the enormous vitality of the tiger descending from the air into the meadow. The tiger rushed up to the cub and took its neck into its mouth full of sharp teeth. The cub was terrified and prepared to die. He was surprised when the tiger picked him up and bounded down to the end of the meadow. It took him down to a burbling creek which descended next to the meadow, and held him up over a quiet pool. The cub looked down, and saw its own face reflected in the still water. It also saw the face of the adult tiger reflected in the same water, right next to his. At first he was confused, but suddenly, in a flash, he realized that he too was a tiger, not a goat.